Metal sheet handling device



Aug. 26, 1969 J. A. ROBERTS METAL SHEET HANDL ING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 12, 1967 Q Q w w H a Q m Q My Q Q" l f W ,wuhnfl J w W kw I \W T v x U L bvvawro? Joszm A Peat! if Aug. 26, 1969 J. A. ROBERTS METAL SHEET HANDLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12, 1967 5 7 W J 2 8 j w W M. a #M l /N p lll I llllll 5 llll H 0 W\ \W ll H. m J M g r I I! IIHII m w k 3 y $3 n u k v m R Qt Q R m I- QM N -Qflm s Aug. 26, 1969 J. A. ROBERTS METAL swam HANDLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 12. 1967 FIG- 7 United States Patent 3,463,330 METAL SHEET HANDLING DEVICE Joseph A. Roberts, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Reliance Sheet & Strip Co., a corporation of California Filed May 12, 1967, Ser. No. 638,062 Int. Cl. B65g 57/112; B65h 29/18 US. Cl. 214-6 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the handling of metal sheets, particularly those of relatively light gauges, it is often necessary to shear or otherwise cut relatively large, usually rectangular sheets into smaller versions in the shape of realtively long narrow strips. When cut, the strips are stacked in a vertical pile for further handling. Much of this work has heretofore been accomplished by manual labor. This is attended with a number of hazards and is slow, cumbersome and likely to be nonuniform. Sometimes the cut strips are not of appropriate character or must be discarded for one reason or another. There is some difiiculty in discarding some of the strips before they are assembled in the stack.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a metal sheet handling device which can be utilized in connection with any one of anumber of different kinds of shearing or other handling devices and which will automatically assemble the cut or received strips in a neat, uniform pile or stack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal sheet handling device in which the strips being stacked are handled very carefully to avoid injury thereto and are gently deposited on the top of the stack being formed.

Another object of the invention isto provide a metal sheet handling device which can readily be installed in a plant and can be moved about from place to place in the plant with little difliculty.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal sheet handling device effective to stack strips of sheet metal of varying widths and lengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal sheet handling device having facility for separating or segregating unwanted from wanted strips and for disposing easily of the unwanted pieces.

Another object of the invention is in general to provide an improved metal sheet handling device.

Other objects together with the foregoing are attained in the embodiment of the invention described in the accompanying description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a metal sheet handling device constructed pursuant to the invention and shown approximately in mid-position of operation;

FIGURE 2 is a plan of the metal sheet handling device, portions being broken away to reduce the length of the figure;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

' FIGURE 4 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line 55 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line 7-7 of FIGURE 2.

While the metal sheet handling device pursuant to the invention can be incorporated in a number of different ways, it has successfully been put to practical use in the form shown herein. In this installation the machine is installed in a factory having a supporting floor 6 on which a metal shear 7 or comparable machine is disposed. The shear forms no part of the present invention but is effective to cut a large sheet into a number of smaller strips and to expel the individual strips, such as 8, through a pair of propelling rollers 9 and 11 and discharge the strip 8 from the shear 7.

Pursuant to the invention, I preferably mount on the floor 6 a number of supporting metal plates 12 and 13 (FIGURE 2) and on those plates support a main frame 16. The frame is a structure made up of angles, shapes, braces and the like and is generally rectangular in plan. At opposite ends the main frame is provided with a pair of supporting wheels 17 and 18 adapted to roll on the subjacent metal plates 12 and 13. Mounted on the main frame at opposite forward corners thereof are channel uprights 21 and 22. The main frame can be rolled into close juxtaposition with the frame of the shear 7 and can be secured, if desired, by appropriate anchoring means, not shown.

A belt conveyor frame 24 also made up of various structural shapes and having a generally rectangular configuration is mounted on the main frame. The end of the belt conveyor frame nearest the shear carries a pivoted block 26 at each corner designed to slide within horizontal guides 27 and 28 secured to the sides of the main frame. The forward end of the belt conveyor frame 24 carries a pair of rollers 31 each adapted to rest against the inner side of the adjacent one of the upright channels 21 and 22. Spanning the width of the belt conveyor frame is a cross shaft 32 appropriately journalled in the horizontal belt conveyor frame and at its opposite ends carrying pinions 33 and 34, each of which is in mesh with the corresponding one of a pair of associated racks 36 arranged along the inside of another flange of the uprights 21 and 22, particularly as illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6.

With this arrangement, the belt conveyor frame at its one end adjacent the uprights 21 and 22 moves substantially in up-and-down directions in a vertical plane, while the other end of the belt conveyor frame is substantially stationary except for a small amount of to-and-fro movement between guides 27 and 28. While the arcuate motion of the belt conveyor frame produces some change in relationship between the rollers 31 and the pinions 33, there is enough clearance in these parts so that the diiference between the arcuate inclination of the frame and the rectilinear translation is immaterial. However, since the pinions 33 are fastened at the opposite ends of the shaft 32 and are in mesh with their respective racks 36, the leading end of the belt conveyor frame always remains parallel to itself and in a horizontal attitude.

The belt conveyor frame at its forward end is provided with a number of pulleys 41 freely journalled on the cross shaft 32 so that they can turn individually. Surrounding each of the spaced pulleys 41 is an individual one of a number of looped belts 42 which also extend around the respective ones of a number of pulleys 43 on a shaft 44 journalled at the rear end vof the main frame adjacent the shear 7. Appropriate means are provided for rotating the shaft 44 and so propelling all of the belts 42 with the upper run 46 of the belts travelling in the direction of the arrow 47 in FIG- URE 1; that is, from a location adjacent the shear 7 to a location adjacent the uprights 21 and 22.

Also pursuant to the invention, the main frame adjacent the shear 7 has a pair of uprights 51 at its opposite corners. These carry a diverter plate 52 mounted for pivotal movement on pivot pins 53 at the upper ends of the uprights 51. The plate 52 is rotated between limits about the pivots 53 under the influence of a pneumatic or hydraulic jack cylinder 54 controlled by the operator of the shear, usually through a foot t readle, not shown. When the plate 52 is in its normal, uppermost position as shown in FIGURE 1, it forms substantially a continuous path from the rollers 9 and 11 to the adjacent end of the belts 42. However, when the cylinder 54 is actuated by the operator, the plate 52 drops into substantially a vertical position. Thereupon any material discharged by the rolls 9 and 11 instead of travelling onto the conveyor belts, rather falls by gravity into a channel-shaped scrap receptacle 56 disposed on the adjacent end of the main frame. When an appropriate number of scrap pieces 57 have been accumulated, the scrap container 56 is removed endwise and is restored empty. By operating his control, therefore, the shear operator can divert an imperfect strip to the scrap container or, alternatively, can direct an acceptable strip to travel directly from the rolls 9 and 11 onto the conveyor belts. Since the conveyor belts advance in the direction of the arrow 47, the strip, which usually spans a number of the separate conveyor belts, at least two, travels forwardly and is discharged over the leading edge of the belt conveyor.

In order to receive the strips so discharged, I preferably provide a carriage 61 adapted to cooperate with the main frame. The carriage includes its own auxiliary frame 62 made up of various shapes and angles supported on pairs of wheels 63 and 64 designed to run on the floor plates 12 and 13. The carriage 61 likewise has a number of upstanding, forward uprights 66 to serve as a forward barrier.

Preferably, the carriage and the main frame are interrelated or spaced at a predetermined amount of gap. For that reason, the carriage 61 is provided with a block 67 (FIGURE 1) to which the opposite ends of a sprocket chain 68 are fastened. The chain 68 travels around a sprocket 69 mounted on the main frame and also around another sprocket 71 mounted on the main frame. Connected to the sprocket 71 is a driven sprocket 72 about which a chain 73 is trained. At its other end the chain 73 extends around a sprocket 74 joined to a sprocket 76. Another chain 77 extends around the sprocket 76 and likewise goes over a sprocket pinion 78 on the shaft 79 journalled on the upright 21 and carrying a control wheel 81.

When the hand wheel 81 is rotated, the various chains are correspondingly moved and the block 67 is advanced or retracted. If the main frame is anchored, as above indicated, the carriage is propelled or retracted with respect to the main frame and is moved an appropriate amount to leave a gap 82 of the desired width between the uprights 66 and the uprights 21 and 22, thereby providing a transverse slot or space to receive snugly the strips which are discharged from the belts 42.

As an aid to maneuvering the mechanism, it is also possible to anchor the carriage 61 to the floor and release the fastening of the main frame thereto. When that occurs, rotation of the hand wheel 81 then moves the main frame toward and away from the shear 7. This is useful in facilitating cleaning in and around the machine and for actually advancing the machine over the floor since the main frame and the carriage can be alternately blocked.

As the various strips are discharged from the belts 42, they fall by gravity in a generally fiat attitude onto the carriage 61. If desired, the carriage can be provided with some sort of a pallet arrangement or can simply be provided with spacing blocks 83 so that a sling or fork lift can ultimately engage under the deposited strip or strips.

In order to preclude excessive fall of the strips from the belt 42 and to make sure that they are deposited gently in their stack, I prefer to start the stack with the conveyor belt frame depressed into a lowermost position indicated by the broken line 84 in FIGURE 1. In that attitude of the belt conveyor frame the strips gently round the discharge end of the belts and move gently into their rest position on the carriage so that they are not subject to malformation or bending.

As successive strips are deposited on the stack being formed, the stack height gets closer to the upper level of the conveyor belt. In order that the optimum relationship between the discharge height of the belt and the height of the stack be preserved throughout the stacking operation, I preferably provide means sensitive to the height of the stack for correspondingly lifting or moving upwardly the adjacent end of the conveyor belt frame. For that reason, particularly as shown in FIGURE 3, I provide on the conveyor belt frame a number of feelers 91. These feelers are distributed across the width of the machine so that they can be sensitive to the height of the stack at various places. This is especially useful when relatively short strips are being stacked at a random location across the machine. There is always available at least one feeler to sense the stack height.

Each of the feelers comprises an arcuate lever having a pivot mounting 92 on the belt conveyor frame and being guided by a pin 93 disposed in a lever slot 94. Intermediate its ends, the lever carries a roller 96 which in one position projects beyond the periphery of the belt 42 extending around the adjacent roller. The relationship is such that when the roller 96 is in advanced position it is abutted by the uppermost strip arriving on the stack. AS the strip positions itself, it displaces the roller 96 radially inwardly, rocking the feeler lever 91 in a clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 3. This motion is transmitted by a link 97 joined at one end to the lever by a pivot pin 98 and joined at the other end by a pivot pin 99 to a lever 101. This is mounted on a cross shaft 102 supported by brackets 103 extending from part of the frame of the belt conveyor mechanism. Since there are a number of feelers, the shaft 102, being connected to all of them in a similar fashion, can be rotated by tripping or actuation of any one of the feelers. When the strip being deposited is relatively long, say the full width of the machine, all of the feelers are tripped simultaneously or substantially so. However, when only relatively short strips are being stacked, perhaps only one feeler is tripped by that stack. In any event, the shaft 102 is correspondingly rocked. A lever 104 depending from the shaft 102 is connected by a loose pivot 106 to the actuating stem 107 of a hydraulic valve 108.

A hydraulic pressure and return system is provided. This is of standard form and is not disclosed in detail. The valve 108 is included in the system and serves as a controller for the operation of a hydraulic cylinder 109 mounted on the conveyor belt frame. One end of the cylinder is joined by a pin and clevis mounting 111 to the frame, whereas the other end of the cylinder serves to guide a piston rod 112 having a clevis 113 at its end in which a small sprocket 114 is journalled. A sprocket chain 116 at one end is connected to an anchor 117 joined to the framework of the belt conveyor. The chain 116 extends around the sprocket 114 and then also extends around another sprocket 118 secured to the shaft 32 at the ends of which the pinions are anchored. The chain end as it leaves the sprocket 118 extends through a portion of the framework and is connected to an elongated helical spring 119 also secured to the belt conveyor frame.

With this mechanism, as'the valve 108 controls the fluid flow, the piston rod 112 is advanced or retracted. This moves the chain to rotate the shaft 32, the free end portion of the chain being maintained in tension by the spring. Rotation of the shaft 32 also rotates the pinions 33 and thus causes a rising movement of the entire belt conveyor frame. Each time a new strip is deposited at the top of the stack, the appropriate roller or rollers 96 of the adjacent feelers is displaced and the valve 108 is correspondingly operated to produce a lifting movement of the belt conveyor frame. In some instances, it is preferred to await the deposit of several sheets before lifting the belt conveyor frame. This can be accomplished by decreasing the sensitivity of the entire sensing 0r feeler mechanism.

In the usual case, as the stack grows or increases in height, the belt conveyor increases its angularity so that the strips are always directly fed to the top of the growing stack until the capacity of the machine is reached. Thereupon the user customarily withdraws the accumulated stack of strips and by manually operating a control 121 appropriately reverses the valve 108 so that the chain mechanism is paid out by the piston rod 112 and the weight of the belt conveyor frame is sufficient to cause reverse rotation of the pinions 33 and the entire frame to drop down to the lowermost position indicated by the line 84. The cycle can then be repeated.

I claim:

1. A metal sheet handling device comprising a main frame, a generally horizontal belt conveyor frame, means mounting said belt conveyor frame on said main frame for movement of one end of said belt conveyor frame in a vertical direction and for horizontal sliding movement of the other end thereof, a belt conveyor on said belt conveyor frame and adapted to advance from the other end of said frame to said one end, means on said main frame for directing metal sheets onto the other end of said belt conveyor, receiving means adjacent said one end for receiving, in a rising stack, metal sheets discharged over said one end of said belt conveyor, means for lifting said one end of said belt conveyor frame, and actuating feeler means located on said belt conveyor frame and projecting beyond said one end and mounted for movement generally longitudinally of said conveyor frame and into the path of a sheet descending from said belt conveyor for momentarily actuating said lifting means in response to engagement of a sheet therewith.

2. A device as in claim 1 in which said receiving means is a carriage movable toward and away from said main frame to vary the gap therebetween, and including means interconnecting said main frame and said carriage for moving said main frame and said carriage toward and away from each other.

3. A device as in claim 1 including a rotary drum mounted at said one end of said belt conveyor frame and over which said conveyor belt is trained and in which said actuating means includes a feeler movable with respect to said belt conveyor frame and projecting beyond the periphery of said belt on said drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,642,221 6/ 1953 Otfutt et al. 3,321,202 5/1967 Martin 271-86 X 2,424,093 7/ 1947 Harred. 2,489,004 11/ 194-9 Beaumont et al. 3,122,242 2/1964 Lopez et al. 3,297,174 1/ 1967 'Letchworth. 3,331,516 7/1967 Giibeli. 3,356,231 12/ 196 7 Chambran.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,280,206 11/1961 France.

86,769 1/ 1956 Norway.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner R. J. SPAR, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

